LABOUR PARTY LOSES IN “SURPRISE” RESULT IN AUSTRALIA ELECTION (Friday Church News Notes, May 24, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In an upset victory that surprised pollsters, Scott Morrison, Australia’s conservative prime minister, won the national election on May 18. The Labour Party, which was expected to win, has vowed to instigate a radical homosexual rights agenda and ban religious exemptions for those who oppose it. A friend in Australia wrote, “Final results are still to come to see if the Coalition (Liberals/Nationals)..
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The following material is excerpted from
THE DISCIPLING CHURCH: THE CHURCH THAT WILL STAND UNTIL JESUS COMES
.
Available in print or as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org. Following are some of the factors that have weakened the character of Bible-believing churches over the past 70 years and helped create a mixed multitude philosophy. Theological Liberalism
Confidence in the Bible was weakened by theological liberalism and Darwinian evolution, and this greatly affected the spiritual power of churches. Though liberalism took many forms, its essence is an attack upon the authority of the Bible. The Northern Baptists became liberal in theology at the beginning of the 20th century. (They were known as the Northern Baptist Convention until 1950, when the name was changed to American Baptist Convention.) For example, in 1918, Harry Emerson Fosdick, pastor of the influential Riverside Church in New York City, published
The Manhood of the Master
, denying that Jesus Christ is God. In 1926, the Northern Baptist Convention voted by ..
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The following material is excerpted from
THE DISCIPLING CHURCH: THE CHURCH THAT WILL STAND UNTIL JESUS COMES
.
Available in print or as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org. Outline
Christ’s Reproof Paul’s Reproof The Ministry of Reproof in Scripture The Blessing of Godly Reproof Effectual Reproof Public and Private Reproof The Ministry of the Body
A ministry of exhortation, reproof, rebuke, warning, and correction toward sin and error are necessary for making true disciples of Jesus Christ. The ministry of loving reproof and correction is necessary ..
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STEVEN ANDERSON BANNED FROM YET ANOTHER COUNTRY (Friday Church News Notes, May 17, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Steven Anderson has been banned from yet another country. This time it is Ireland. Anderson was scheduled to preach in Dublin on May 26, but the Minister for Justice signed an exclusion order against him. This is the first time that someone has been banned under a 1999 immigration law that allows exclusion “in the interest of national security or public policy.” The decision followed a gay activist petition that received over 14,000 signatures. Anderson is targeted for his statements that homosexuals should be killed. After the mass shooting at a gay-friendly nightclub..
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One of the most important habits to develop in the Christian life is that of daily Bible reading. It is the Word of God that has the power to sanctify the believer and build him up in Christ. It imparts conviction, enlightenment, spiritual strength, faith, wisdom, repentance. Consider the following Scriptures: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Joshua 1:8). “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall...
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The following is excerpted from
Keeping the Kids
, which is available from Way of Life Literature: “... from a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures” (2 Timothy 3:15).
One of the most important things that parents can do for their children it to help them develop a habit of daily Bible study. Though I grew up in church, I do not remember any instruction or challenge whatsoever about this. It is by the Word of God that the young person can cleanse his way in this wicked world (Psalm 119:9). It must get down into the heart and soul and thus permeate the individual’s life, and this will not happen unless reading, study, memorization, and..
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There is a lot of talk about walls today, particularly President Donald Trump’s plan to build an effective wall on America’s southern border. That is a reasonable, common sense thing. Even the opponents of Trump’s wall use walls. They have walls on their own property, with gates and doors and strong locks. Every sane person understands the importance of walls in a fallen world. Walls are protection. Walls keep out things that shouldn’t come in. The New Testament church needs walls, as well. These are spiritual walls. We have five walls in our church. First, we have the wall of the biblical standard for baptism, which is primarily born again salvation (Ac. 2:42; 8:36-37). We aren’t hasty in this matter. We do our best to baptize only those who give evidence of salvation (2 Co. 5:17; 1 Jo. 2:3-4). We make sure that each person..
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FIRST TELEVISED ROCK WORSHIP SERVICE HAD ALL THE EARMARKS OF CCM TODAY (Friday Church News Notes, May 10, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The first televised rock worship service, a half-century ago, had all of the earmarks of Contemporary Christian Music today and all of the loud warning signs for wise, Bible-believing Christians and churches. The date was April 27, 1969, the year I entered the U.S. Army. The band was The Mind Garage; the broadcaster was ABC (American Broadcasting Corporation); the forum was Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church in Bowery, Manhattan. The event was called “14th Electric Mass.” It was seen by thousands of people in the United States and rerun annually into the 1980s (classicchristianrockzine.com). Consider the earmarks of this proto-rock worship service: First, from its inception rock worship was pagan in sound. The music of the first..
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The cuckoo is the common name for a family of birds (scientific name Cuculidae) that has about 60 members. There is a large variety. While most are dove-sized, they can range in size from 6.5 to 36 inches; and while the most common are blue gray and brown, some are iridescent blue and emerald green. All have long tails, usually with the individual feathers tipped with white. The most common is the
Cuculus canorus
, known simply as..
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While the declarations of the Roman Catholic Vatican II Council of the 1960s did bring changes to the Catholic Church, it did not change its foundational dogmas. Not only did Vatican II uphold Rome’s false dogmas, it actually strengthened them. The more than 2,400 bishops attending Vatican II reaffirmed such Roman heresies as papal supremacy, the Roman priesthood, the mass as a re-sacrifice of Christ, the sacramental gospel, Catholic tradition on equal par with Scripture, Mary as the Queen of Heaven and co-redemptress with Christ, auricular confession, pilgrimages to “holy shrines,” purgatory, and prayers to and for the dead. All of these Roman dogmas are reaffirmed in
Vatican Council II--The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents
. This book is published by the Roman Catholic Church and contains the Imprimatur: Walter P. Kellenberg, D,D., Bishop of Rockville Centre, Aug. 12, 1975. “Imprimatur" is the official Catholic stamp of approval and means “let it be printed.” Consider some quotes from the Vatican II documents:
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FATHER PUNISHED BY BRITISH COLUMBIA GOVERNMENT/COURT FOR NOT AFFIRMING HIS DAUGHTER’S TRANSSEXUALISM (Friday Church News Notes, May 3, 2019, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from “Father Gagged, Found Guilty of ‘Family Violence,’”
The Federalist
, Apr. 24, 2019: “Last week, Justice Francesca Marzari of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada, declared a father guilty of ‘family violence’ against his 14-year-old daughter on the sole basis that he had engaged in ‘expressions of rejection of [her] gender identity.’ These ‘expressions’ revolved entirely around his polite refusal to refer to his daughter as a boy in private, and his steady choice to affirm that she is a girl in public. As previously reported, the ..
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“Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:13). The preacher is to
give himself to reading
.
This refers, first of all, to the public reading of the Scriptures
. Reading, exhortation, and doctrine are public ministries. “Reading” is “anagnosis,” which refers to reading out loud. “Philip heard him read” (Ac. 8:28). It is used for the reading of Scripture in the synagogues (Lu. 4:16; Ac. 13:7; 15:21; 2 Co. 3:15) and in the churches..
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Rob Bell’s book
Love Wins
stirred up something of a hornet’s nest of controversy among “evangelicals” when it was published in 2011, which we found puzzling. The man had been denying eternal hell and teaching a universalistic faith for a long time. In a 2005 interview with Beliefnet, Bell said “the church must stop thinking about everybody primarily in categories of in or out, saved or not, believer or nonbeliever.” In his influential book
Velvet Elvis
, which is popular with a great many Southern Baptists, he described a wedding that he conducted for two pagan unbelievers who told him that “they didn’t want any Jesus or God or Bible or religion to be talked about” but they did want him to “make it really spiritual” (p. 76). Bell agreed with this ridiculous request and said that his pagan friends “are resonating with Jesus..
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Clothing is a form of language. It is a “social message,” a fashion “statement.”
Wikipedia
defines fashion as “a prevailing mode of expression.” The report acknowledges that “every article of clothing carries a cultural and social meaning” and observes that “humans must know the code in order to recognize the message transmitted.” American fashion designer Rachel Zoe said, “Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak” (goodreads.com). Feminist writer Virginia Woolf said, “Clothes change our view of the world, and the world’s view of us” (
Orlando
, chapter 4)....
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RUGBY LEAGUE TO FIRE $1 MILLION STAR PLAYER OVER BIBLE VERSE POSTS ON HOMOSEXUALITY (Friday Church News Notes, April 26, 2019, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from ChristianHeadlines.com, Apr. 16, 2019: “An Australian rugby star who makes more than $1 million per year is set to be fired in the coming days for posting a Bible verse about homosexuality on social media and urging his follows to ‘turn to Jesus.’ Rugby Australia said April 14 that Israel Folau was in breach of the players’ code of conduct and had 48 hours to accept the sanction or have the matter referred to a Code of Conduct hearing. The incident warranted ‘termination of his employment contract,’ the statement said. The meeting could
occur
next week. Speaking after church Sunday, Folau said he would not apologize for the Bible-centric social media posts on Instagram and Twitter and would be content walking away from rugby. Folau signed a contract in 2015 that paid him..
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